Shampoo compositions comprising various combinations of detersive surfactants and conditioning agents are known. These products typically comprise an anionic detersive surfactant in combination with a conditioning agent such as silicone, hydrocarbon oil, fatty esters, or combinations thereof. These products have become more popular among consumers as a means of conveniently obtaining hair or skin conditioning and cleansing performance all from a single personal care product.
However, many shampoo compositions do not provide sufficient deposition of conditioning agents onto hair and skin during the cleansing process. Without such deposition, large proportions of conditioning agent are rinsed away during the cleansing process and, therefore, provide little or no conditioning benefit. Without sufficient deposition of the conditioning agent on the hair and skin, relatively high levels of conditioning agents may be needed in the personal cleansing composition to provide adequate conditioning performance. However, high levels of a conditioning agent can increase raw material costs, reduce lathering, and present product stability concerns.
Obtaining good deposition of a conditioning agent is further complicated by the action of detersive surfactants in the shampoo composition. Detersive surfactants are designed to carry away or remove oil, grease, dirt, and particulate matter from the hair and skin. As a result, the detersive surfactants can interfere with deposition of the conditioning agent and can remove both deposited and non-deposited conditioning agent during rinsing. Consequently, after rinsing, the deposition of the conditioning agent onto the hair and skin is reduced, which, in turn, reduces conditioning performance.
One method for improving deposition of a conditioning agent involves the use of certain cationic deposition polymers. Typically, these cationic deposition polymers are natural polymers, such as cellulosic or guar polymers that have been modified with cationic substituents. Sufficient deposition of conditioning agents can result from selecting a cationic deposition polymer with sufficient charge density and molecular weight in combination with an optimized surfactant system. However, to achieve this sufficient deposition in shampoo or body wash compositions, generally, the molecular weight of the cellulosic or guar deposition polymers is well above 200,000. High molecular weight cationic starches also have been available for a number of years. However, high molecular weight starches do not provide an appropriate level of wet conditioning or detangling of wet hair. Thus, a need still exists to provide both adequate wet conditioning and a high level of conditioning active deposition with a low cost cationic or amphoteric polymer.
It is also desirable that shampoo compositions which deliver conditioning agents do not result in a cleaning tradeoff, buildup, or reduced volume of the intended hair style, and, further, that the shampoos are storage stable. Previous attempts to achieve sufficient conditioning performance in shampoos have been made using dispersed droplets of silicone oil in combination with depositing high levels of high molecular weight polymer. However, these attempts result in buildup of polymer and conditioning agents, which potentially can result in a reduction of hairstyle volume. Thus, a need still exists to provide sufficient conditioning performance without a reduction in hairstyle volume with a low cost cationic or amphoteric polymer in a shampoo composition.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a personal cleansing composition which delivers superior conditioning benefits to hair and/or skin with a low cost cationic or amphoteric polymer without buildup effects or a reduced cleansing performance.